How do nonprofits help me get my play produced?

How do nonprofits help me get my play produced?

The nonprofits are really the organizations, by definition, that don't need to turn a profit. Commercial producers on the other hand need to have something that will sell their play, whether that's brand name recognition or a big star. And so it's really hard for an unknown playwright to be produced by a commercial producer unless the risk is on a smaller scale, such as off-of Broadway or off Broadway. And so it's a shame that in this country grants are diminishing for arts organizations. But there are fantastic non-profit organizations that exist solely to give playwrights the time and energy that they need to focus on the construction of a play, whether that's retreats or to give workshops a possibility. If you read the first draft of "Glengarry, Glen Ross" or some of Tennessee William's plays you never would have thought that these could have been the playwrights that they were. And it really does take sort of a network of support, mostly from the non-profits, that do the workshops, that invest in the playwrights, that commission playwrights, which really enables the playwrights to make a living and succeed at their craft before commercial producers even come into the picture.